Wigan Album

what a wonderful photo.

What a superb set of photos. This is what wiganworld is all about

This reminds me of my schooldays, going for a pie and a fag at Nellie's, where the wagon is.

Superb.

Agreed; It's brilliant. Look at those street-lamps!

Excellent stuff, great pic's and no double yellow lines anywhere. lol

When I went to the Bluecoat, the shop was run by a woman named 'Essie'.

Super photo, when I was at the Bluecoat, in the 1940's, Mr Yates was head master and Mrs Yates was his deputy. Miss Barrow and Mr Headley were teachers, he came to work on an LE Velocette motorcycle.My Dad was caretaker for a while in the 50's.

I LIVED AT 100 HALLGATE,THE FOURTH DOOR UP FROM BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER OF THE PHOTO,FROM 1969 TO 1976 WITH MY FAMILY.

I made a mistake there, it wasn't Nellies, it was Fanny Orgills.

Jill,our window cleaner must have lived near you, his house was right facing the Blue Coat School...it would have been in the early 70's.

Jill, was Dick Parkinson your dad?..Shared many a yarn in The Old Pear Tree with him. He loved a good chat..;o)

REPLY TO ART & MAUREEN.YES MY DAD WAS DICK PARKINSON THE WINDOW CLEANER.SADLY HE DIED IN DECEMBER 1999 AGE 72, AND YES HE DID LIKE A GOOD CHAT AND A LAUGH. (AS WELL AS A DRINK).MISS HIM LIKE MAD.

Jill..he was a very nice man...but you knew that didn't you.

I went to the Bluecoat from about 1956 to 1962, both Infants and Juniors. Charlie Yates and his wife were Head & Deputy head respectively. The Old Infants school is just peeping our on the left of the photo (which for those who can't place where this is, was taken with the photographers back to the Gate House of Wigan Hall looking up Hallgate with the bus station to the left). The Infants school was run by two old spinsters, Miss Chadwick and Miss Faulkener, both of whom would sooner give you a good slap than teach you. A right pair of old battleaxes of the first order.

Somewhere off Hallgate was Top Croft can anybody see this could be on this photo

It might be that my memory is playing tricks but I thought i could remember playing a football match against this school around 1952, and walking a distance along the pavements in our boots, to the football pitch which I thought was off Miry Lane, perhaps Prescott Street (the smelly "bone works" was close by the field) but looking at the map this would not be practical, it seems just too far away. Nevertheless I would be intrigued to know if the school had a football team and if so where on earth did they play?

I too remember Mr. and Mrs Yates, but also Miss Atherton, who was headmistress of the Bluecoat in the 40's when I attended. I was born in the middle weavers cottage right at the top left of Hallgate as you look at the photo. Tiny rooms with latch doors, which should have been kept as a tourist interest instead of knocked down for a bus station. Happy and nostalgic memories.

To think this photo has been on wigan world for 6 years and I've only just seen it - a fantastic record of a historic part of the town, a great posting, apologies for being so late.

The houses in Hallgate must surely be the closest to the town centre, and were demolished in the mid 1980s. I remember the Bluecoat school that is where the entrance to the new bus station is.

Top croft was an off at 72 Hallgate
many relatives we have lived there.